From the Apocalypse to Idris
by IzzieGS
Summary: All-human, zombieverse AU. When the zombie apocalypse actually does occur, Alec grabs his siblings and runs. Now they've heard that there is city free from any infected called Idris. The problem? They've got to travel across the country -and survive the trip- to get there. And what happens when another survivor named Magnus Bane comes along? (Malec later)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again! And welcome to my story!**

**I noticed a distinct lack of any zombieverse fan fics. And since that is my favorite AU ever, I decided to write one myself. So this is an all-human, zombieverse AU.**

**I was writing some of this chapter after midnight and I never have any of my pieces beta'd, so I apologize for any mistakes.**

**Also, I do not own any of the characters, nor do I own the idea of the zombie apocalypse. I only own the plot.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alec supposed it really shouldn't have surprised him when it happened. Everyone expected it so much, and some people actually were ready. Most people, though, had shrugged it off as something that young people had created so that they could imagine the end of the human population being a seemingly supernatural event. They all imagined that it would be epic; and in a way, it was.

He always shook his head at the idea of the zombie apocalypse. He didn't prepare for it, didn't think that there was a chance that it might really happen. But when his school was evacuated because people had started getting bitten and biting others. The infection was spreading quickly. As soon as Alec saw that it was real, he got his siblings in high school and then got in his car and got their little brother Max.

Max had asked them what had happened when they got onto the road. Alec didn't know any other way to answer but the truth, so that's what he told him. Max's response was a better one than they had expected. He seemed to understand and didn't panic. The first thing he said after Alec had explained was asking where they were going. The group of siblings sat mostly in silence as they rode to their house. Alec figured that they could find some useful supplies. Especially since their dad had made them practice with weapons growing up.

As soon as the car pulled up into the driveway, Alec knew that something had gone wrong. The door was broken and he could see a knocked-over table through the window. "Wait here," he told his siblings as he got out of the car and went into the house. There was a gun in the dresser in the living room. He grabbed it and was glad that they kept it loaded. Taking the safety off and keeping the gun pointed in front of him, he searched the large house.

As Alec was walking up the stairs to go through their rooms, he heard a groaning sound coming from his father's office. He cocked the gun and slowly pushed open the door the rest of the way. His nanny, Hodge, looked up. Except it wasn't Hodge, not really. He was infected; Alec could tell from the signs. He had eyes so glassy they were almost purely white. His skin was grayer that usual. The main thing that made Alec sure of it, though, was the bright red, still bleeding bite on his arm.

When the thing sprung at Alec, he automatically reacted and shot. It hit the creature in the chest and it stumbled back. Alec got stuck with the choice of killing it now or fighting it and having the chance of being bitten. Alec chose quickly and shot the thing's head. The bullet killed it and it fell back onto the ground. Blood started pooling around the creature, so Alec decided to get out of the room as fast as he could.

Alec walked through the rest of the house to make sure that there were no more of the walking dead. When he was sure that the house was empty except for him, he went back to the car. "Get what you need. We can't bring too much." They all went off into their own rooms. They grabbed a couple changes of clothes each that they stuck in the trunk of the car. The three oldest siblings also packed backpacks full of food, water, medicine, gauze, bandages, flashlights, batteries and their cell phones -which they would only use in emergencies. They also armed themselves with guns and hand weapons. Izzy grabbed her whip, which she had been learning how to use since she was twelve. The three of them grabbed machetes for when they got too close to the walkers.

With all of their supplies stored into their bags and car, the Lightwoods started out on their trip. Alec was glad he got the car out when he did. In his rear-view mirror he could see a horde of newly turned going down the street. They weren't slow like all of the movies implied. The car went down the streets, twisting and turning down seemingly random streets, most of which Alec had never been on. He tried to avoid the streets that were too busy and full of cars. Traffic wouldn't help their chances of living through the day.

"Do you think it's like this where Mom and Dad are?" Max asked as they were driving down a mostly deserted street. Their parents were almost always somewhere other than home on business trips. They stopped bringing the children along when Alec was around eight years old. That's why they had hired Hodge; so that he could watch over and raise their children while they did not. They were on another trip at the time. They were who-knows-where doing who-knows-what. Maybe the infection had reached them. Maybe it had not. Alec didn't know how far it had spread yet. He just knew that it was spreading fast.

"I hope not," Jace said from his seat beside Alec. He was looking out the window, watching all of the buildings they passed. He was probably thinking about how they were going to have to change. How fast they were going to have to grow up and relearn to live. Alec knew he was.

As the car started moving away from New York City and into less crowded cities, Alec thought over plans. They were going to have to find a place that wasn't too crowded and didn't have a lot of infected. They would have to always carry their weapons on them. The older siblings would have to teach Max the lessons he needed to know. They would have to a lot of things to live through this if they were going to survive. First thing first, though, was getting out of there.

Two months later Alec was getting ready to go out on a trip to the store before sundown. He, Max, Izzy, and Jace had all found a place that they were staying in for the moment. It had been announced that there was a city that was a safe haven from the infected. The problem was that you had to fight and survive to get there. And it was on the other side of the country from New York. While usually a trip from New York to Oregon would not take over three or four days including rest, it was taking much longer for them to make it. There were too many infected everywhere. They would have to stay in hiding when large hordes came through.

There used to be quite a number of survivors. The ones who were clever enough to stay off of the busy roads. The ones who were prepared. The ones who got out first. In the first large wave, the population of humans went down a lot. After the second one, many more people were lost. The third, nearly no one was left.

Now the siblings were on the border of Illinois and Iowa and staying in an abandoned house. It was mostly in tact, which was a good thing. The family had gotten out before the infected found the place. That meant that the doors were not broken, the windows still had full glass in them, and that the furniture was still in place.

Alec put his mind back onto his current mission. He and Jace were about to go out and search through the nearby grocery store to see if they still had anything left that could help the Lightwoods on their way. Izzy and Max were going to stay behind. Izzy complained about not being able to go out too before Alec explained to her that he needed her to guard the place and Max. While he didn't like leaving them there on their own, he disliked the idea of Izzy and Jace going out without him even less.

When the two older brothers were fully geared up, they started out for the store. They scanned the area around them the entire walk. Alec kept a look out for one side while Jace got the other. They worked well as a pair. Better together than with any other people. They walked through the doors and were glad for the daylight when they saw that the power did not work anymore -not that it did anywhere else.

Jace and Alec split up to search the area quicker so that they could get back before the sun went down. After that, they could trust only their flashlights to light their path. They knew from experience that that was neither an easy nor fun thing to have to do.

As Alec looked through the shelves for the things that they could have. He knew that it wasn't exactly fun running from zombies all the time, so he always got Izzy and Max things on his trips. Jace got his own things. Alec got the color nail polish that he thought Izzy might like best and was wondering down another aisle when he saw the last installment that had come out in Max's favorite comic book series. He grabbed it and stuck it in his bag when he heard a voice behind him.

"You like comics?" Alec didn't recognize the voice, and when he turned around, his hand automatically went to his blade. "Oh. Don't do that darling. I feel like surviving today." He finally spotted the source of the voice. It was a tall man -taller than even Alec- with odd green eyes that looked almost golden if you looked at them from the right angle. He was from some kind of Asian heritage, and he had a slight accent that Alec couldn't place. The man was around Alec's age, nineteen at most. The biggest thing that Alec noticed about him was that he acted like what he had just said was something you said to people all the time. 'He's beautiful,' a voice in Alec's head said.

"Umm... They're for my little brother." He gestured to the comic. He watched as the man walked towards him and looked at his open bag. He smirked when he saw something in there, Alec didn't know what it was. When the man straightened up, Alec asked what his name was.

"Magnus. Magnus Bane. And you blue-eyes?" Alec managed to stutter out his name, but he felt completely awkward and could feel that he was blushing. "Alec... Is that short for something?"

"Alexander," Alec answered. He blushed deeper when Magnus replied with a statement about how Alexander was wonderful name. He smirked again, which made Alec just feel even more awkward. How could this man talk so easily with others while Alec could barely get out answers because he was talking to a good-looking guy.

"Well Alexander," Magnus started. He ignored the correction of "Alec" that was sent his way as he continued. "Who's the nail polish for? Your little brother?"

"No, it's for my sister. She loves to paint her nails." Magnus scanned his eyes over Alec's body, not even trying to look like he wasn't. Alec felt like he was going to overheat just from his blush. He hid his eyes behind his bangs. It made his feel a little better, it always did. Helped him feel like he had some sort of barrier between him and the rest of the world.

Jace walked up to them at that time. "Hey Alec," he greeted. He looked over at Magnus. "Who's your friend here?" Magnus introduced himself while Alec tried to make his face become a more normal color. He didn't want to go back to their place with a bright red face. Izzy and Jace would tease him all night. He was glad that they knew who he liked though, and they didn't tease him whenever he talked to good-looking girls like they used to.

Alec managed to get most of the red gone and tuned back into the conversation to hear the words group, join, and some agreement. "Wait, what?" he asked, feeling behind. Jace and Magnus filled him in, saying that Magnus had been travelling alone since this thing had started and Jace asked Alec if he thought that they should let Magnus join them.

Instead of going back to their place with a large blush, Alec went back with a new addition to their team.

* * *

**1. That took me forever to type.**

**2. That was the longest chapter of anything I have ever written ever. It was 2100 words long! (technically it was 2099, but it is close enough)**

**3. I really hope you guys like this story so far. It will be a multi-chapter story, so I'm excited for that.**

**4. As always, you don't have to review, but I would love, love, love if you did. They give me inspiration and help me to not procrastinate updating.**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again Readers!**

**We are back for another round of TMI characters stuck in the zombie apocalypse.**

**Let us get onto the story.**

**I don't any of the characters mentioned in this chapter, nor do I own any zambies. I do own the plot though!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"So who's going to be the first watch?" Jace asked as the group of survivors were gathered around in a circle. They were eating what they had found, so most of it was small canned meals. They were all planning on going to sleep soon. All except for whoever got the first watching shift. They would have to stay up and watch at the exit, making sure that no infected got near without them being prepared. The ones in the group that were old enough to stand guard -now numbering four- always debated who had to watch at night. They all either wanted the first post or the last one. No one liked being woken up in the middle of sleeping to have to go and watch out for infected and then go back to sleep.

"I think I should get first," Izzy stated, "because I got one of the middle ones last night." That was the order that they tried to keep it in. The two people that had gotten the outer shifts got the inner ones, and vice-versa. They still asked anyway, just to make sure that those two people wanted the first and last watches. They always did.

"Okay, so I'll get the last one," Alec said. He always liked the morning shift better than the first. He could stay up later and think without having to be on guard. He was also an early riser by himself, so the early watch didn't bother him as much as the others who got it. Magnus and Jace figured out which times they would get -Jace's being after Izzy and Magnus's being the one before Alec's.

Alec knew that he wasn't the only one who stayed up. He could sometimes hear Magnus mumble something to himself and sometimes he actually went over and had conversations with Alec. They would talk until they fell asleep sometimes; and sometimes they would talk until the first shift was done.

Alec got a lot less teasing from his siblings than he usually would have gotten, probably from Max always being in the room. Or maybe it had something to do with them being in the apocalypse. They still did tease him though. Jace with his smirks full of hidden meanings and implications. Izzy with her smiles and whispered, "You liiike him."

Alec was thinking about how Max might react if he found out when he felt someone sit next to him. "Penny for your thoughts?" Magnus hadn't even been with the group for a whole week, yet he had fit right in. The bubbly personality that seemed to not let anything pull him down. He almost always was smiling or trying to make the others smile, minus times when they had been busy getting the heads of zombies unattached from the rest of their bodies.

"Not important." Alec glanced beside himself at Magnus. He could still see his eyes. They reflected the light, not too much unlike those of a cat. They were studying him intently, and Alec was glad for the darkness when his face flush red. He had a feeling he knew anyway though.

"But darling, thoughts are some of the only things we haven't had taken yet." Alec knew Magnus was right. He hadn't yet gotten used to the pet names Magnus called him quite yet. He didn't know why he did that though; they weren't a couple. Though Alec wasn't very sure he would have minded if they were...

Alec cut off that train of thought. He didn't need to start debating how big his crush on Magnus was at that time. Especially when he wasn't alone with his thoughts. Perhaps he would get back to it later. Instead he turned his attention back to the conversation. Magnus was asking him where he thought they were right now and how long he thought it might take them to get to Idris.

"I think that we're in Nebraska, near the South Dakota border," Alec answered. He had checked the map and surroundings that morning to try and figure out where they were. He made sure that they stayed on track. It turned out that a map of the USA really helped when there were no more GPS systems or flying planes.

Magnus nodded. They both sat in silence for some time. Alec thought Magnus might have fallen asleep before he heard him speaking. Alec could barely hear his words and he didn't know if Magnus fully wanted him to or not. "Do you ever wonder if they're safe?" Magnus asked. "Your parents, I mean. Your friends? Do you think they're safe?"

Alec didn't answer at first. He did wonder a lot if they were safe. Maybe they were already in Idris. Maybe they weren't. They could be living like their group was; slowly travelling to the safest place in the US so far. Perhaps they weren't alive at all. Alec tried to keep his mind from dwelling on that possibility for too long. "I don't know," he finally said. "I do wonder, but there just is no way to know. About my friends, I had none. What about your friends?"

When Magnus had been asked where his family was, he had simply told them that he didn't have any. He had told Alec the night after that he hadn't had parents since he was young; his mom having died and step-dad getting arrested. He didn't know any other family members. He also never said what his step-dad had gotten arrested for. "I hope they're safe. Maybe Camille is killing zombies with her stilettos." Magnus laughed quietly. "Like you said though. There really is no way to know."

Alec jumped slightly when he felt a warm hand on top of his. He noticed that he Magnus had been sitting with their shoulders pressed against each other during their conversation. "I like talking to you," Magnus mumbled. Alec could tell that Magnus was tired. He was too. He still blushed from Magnus's words and took a moment before he replied.

All he said was, "Me too." He felt Magnus's steady breathing against him. He knew moving Magnus would wake him, and Alec wasn't uncomfortable, so he let him stay. Alec closed his eyes and smiled as he felt the heat from Magnus before sleep took him under.

* * *

**Yay! I wrote another chapter!**

**This one is shorter than the first one. (That one being around 2100 words and this one being around 1100) But I plan on updating again either later today or tomorrow.**

**Not a lot happened in this chapter. It's here to give some information about Magnus and his relations he had before the infection started.**

**And as always, please leave a review to tell me how you think I'm doing.**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again Readers!**

**How are all of you today? I hope you aren't sun burnt like I am.**

**The first half of this chapter turned out to be a bit more violent than I had originally intended... But oh well.**

**I hope you still enjoy this chapter (and quick update).**

**I do not own anything except for the plot! I don't know if the orphanage is a real place or not, it was just the first name that popped into my head.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alec tried to be as unseen as possible when an infected came a little too close for comfort to their camp. He breathed out quietly when it passed, but swore when he saw the horde the thing had been with a horde coming down the street. The rising sun gave Alec the light he needed to see that this horde was huge. Much too large for them to fight off. He got away from the streets and in abandoned apartment that they were staying in as quietly as he could. He certainly didn't want to attract the attention of that horde.

Alec managed to get everyone up and supplied quickly. They all rushed around to another exit out of the building onto a road that didn't look like it had any infected on it for the time being. They tried to keep Max near the center of the group heading out. That way if any zombies came too close, they wouldn't get to him. At least, not first.

Nearly silent footsteps seemed much too loud as the young people ran through the city. Groans got closer when the infected picked up on the scent and followed them. Soon there were walkers coming in from every direction from where they had been hiding. The survivors ran into a blocked off road, helping Max over the crashed cars. On the other side, they caught their breath. There was a barrier in between them and the infected, for now.

They found an old car parked in the parking lot of an abandoned gas station. Everyone got inside before they realized that the keys weren't there. Alec figured that the owner of the car had the keys on them, whoever they were. He worried that their chance of a quick escape was gone. That was when Magnus searched through the glove compartment and found a picture of the owner. Alec decided that the best place to look for the man first was inside the gas station.

Alec told his siblings and friend to stay inside of the car while he checked. He made sure his gun was loaded and walked inside. Looking around, he gasped when he noticed the owner of the car on the store's floor. The man had obviously died by his own hand -he was still holding the gun. He had been infected though, and judging by how scratched and bloody he was, he had put up a fight beforehand. He stopped himself from turning.

Alec walked up to the corpse and reached in the man's pocket. He found the keys quickly in the small cloth and tried to prevent them from making any more noise than necessary. He shoved them in his own pocket and turned around to walk back out to the car, running into someone else. Except it didn't matter who that someone had been. It was more important to notice what they were. Infected. Alec had his machete out and through the walker's neck in a few seconds. It crumpled, and Alec tried to ignore the blood seeping into his shirt.

As Alec looked up, he noticed that the horde hadn't been blocked that much from the cars. They were crowding the street, walking towards the car. The first few of the group had gone into the station instead, smelling Alec inside. He tried to take a count of how many there were around him. Four, five, six, seven... Too many for him to fight on his own. He just raised his weapon and hoped that they didn't all attacked at once.

The zombies headed forward. The one closest to his lost its head before it had gotten two steps closer. Another one was there to replace it quickly. Soon it was on the floor with its head near the others. But again there was another one on Alec. He slashed out again, hitting the neck, but not fully slicing the head off. The zombie fell to the floor, his head not fully severed from his body. Two more were on him. He kept slashing out. No matter how many infected he killed though, there seemed to be more.

Soon Alec's arms were tiring. His swings were weaker, and some started missing. He stopped swinging when one of the infected grabbed his arm and his blade fell. Another one grabbed his shoulder with its hands. What a horrible way to die. Maybe he wouldn't turn though. There were a lot of them. Maybe they would eat so much of him that he didn't turn. Before he felt a bite though, the infected both fell.

Jace and Magnus stood in front of Alec. They were both holding their own weapons in front of them. "Come on," Jace ordered as he ran back out to he car, taking care of a couple more walkers. Alec reached down and picked up his machete, frowning at the blood on it before returning it to its place attached to his belt.

"Careful darling, you almost got bitten," Magnus said before he followed Jace. Alec went out as well, going straight to the car and getting the keys in the ignition as fast as he could. Jace got into the seat next to him, keeping an eye on the rest of the horde still heading towards them. They were definitely getting closer. Alec thought he saw Magnus glare at Jace for a moment, but that must have been a trick of his mind.

Alec stepped on the gas pedal and started off down the road. He was thankful that the car had been at a gas station. The owner had probably filled it with gas before going inside to pay. That was when the infected got there. Alec thought it was weird thinking about the normal things people used to do instead of running from things that had supposedly been fictional. Well, they had been fictional until that one science university thought they could help evolve humans, messed up, and created this world.

"Hope none of you have motion sickness," Alec stated as he swerved around a corner. Now it was time to get away and get somewhere new.

The car came to a stop near a good looking building right near there the border of Wyoming. Alec may have been able to cross into the state, but the house looked mostly safe. As safe as any place could be anymore. They hadn't seen any more infected since they had evaded the horde that made them get their current car. "Look's like this is going to be home for now," Alec said as he pulled the car up into the drive.

The oldest guys went into the building first. Alec searched through the first floor. The first room mostly just held the large bar-looking receptionist desk. Above it were a faded sign saying "Ms. Georgie's House for Children". An orphanage that had been running before the infection. Alec hoped that the kids had gotten out safe, that none of them had been turned. He knew that there were children that had been bitten, but he had never seen one, and he hoped he never had to.

Luckily the place was empty of any animate objects other than the survivors. They all chose rooms that were next door to each others on the bottom floor. That way they could make a quick exit if needed, and they could also get to each other without much trouble. There was another argument over who got what shifts that night over their small dinner. The order ended up being Jace, Alec, Izzy, and then Magnus. That meant that Alec probably would not be sleeping until his watch was over.

The ones not on watch went back to their rooms to get comfortable and go to sleep. Or, in a couple cases, try to sleep. Alec was staring at the roof in his room thinking when he heard a knock on his door. "Yes?" he answered not looking down.

Alec heard the door creak open a small bit. "I was hoping I had gotten the right room," a voice said from the darkness. Alec immediately recognized the voice as Magnus's. "Can I come in?"

Alec nodded before he realized that Magnus probably couldn't see it in the dark. "Yeah, come in." He sat up in his bed and moved over so that Magnus had room to sit. The teenager walked into the room, shutting the door silently behind him, and then jumped onto the bed.

"Alexander! What were you thinking!" Magnus whispered yelled as he sat on his feet facing Alec. He sounded upset about something. Alec wasn't fully sure what he was worried about though.

"What was I thinking when?" Alec asked. He turned so that he was facing Magnus as well. He had a lot of moments that people could ask him what he had been thinking. "Why did you come into my room?"

"What were you thinking? Going into that store alone almost got you killed. Someone should have gone with you." Alec realized that Magnus was worried about him. But why would someone like Magnus worry over someone like Alec? "And I came in here because you said I could." Alec knew Magnus could feel the "You know what I meant" message he was sending because then he added, "I couldn't sleep."

"You and Jace helped me," Alec tried. He didn't like that he had to be saved, though he was glad that he had been. He still kept wondering why Magnus cared.

"And we barely got there in time. We got lucky." Magnus was silent for a moment before he whispered,"I'm glad we did."

"Why are you having trouble sleeping?" Alec knew that Magnus didn't always go to sleep when everyone else did. He had a feeling that Max was the only in the group who always did. Izzy and Jace let them be though.

"Memories," was all Magnus said. Alec had a pretty good feeling of what he meant. Since Magnus had been an orphan, he would have grown up in an orphanage. The place was probably giving him memories of his old life. Alec felt the warmth of Magnus against him like the night before. Again, Magnus set his hand over Alec's as he changed the subject and talked about the stars outside.

Too soon it was close to Alec's watch time. He told Magnus to go get some sleep before he had to get up in the morning. Magnus started to walk out of the room, but after he had opened the door, he seemed to change his mind about something. He walked back into the room, pressed his lips to Alec's hair, and walked back out. "Goodnight Alexander."

* * *

**Yay Malec!**

**The violence wasn't too bad was it? Do you think that I wrote it well? badly? Should I write more violence? little violence?**

**Thank you for those who have reviewed/followed/faved this story!**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again Readers!**

**Another chapter is here! It's another one that doesn't contain much action, but it does have Malec!**

**I don't own the characters, because if I did, page 511 would (maybe) not have happened. I do own this plot though.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alec shivered as he walked outside the next day. He looked around the area, searching for a store that might have clothes inside. The air was getting colder everyday, and soon their sweaters wouldn't be enough. Alec just hoped that they made it to Idris before winter came. They had enough difficulty getting there without having to worry about snow. There was a small store close by. He guessed that the children from Ms. Georgie's got their clothes there.

Alec and Magnus went to the store. Jace seemed to be coming down with something, most likely caused by the changes in weather. Alec just hoped the cold medicine worked and the rest of them didn't get sick. He was upset that he couldn't go out with them, but was finally convinced that he should rest.

Inside there a variety of different things. Ranging from toys, to books, to clothes. There were items everywhere. Alec walked over to the racks of clothes and found thick clothes that were his siblings sizes. He didn't know Magnus's exact size, but he guessed. Grabbing a couple that looked like his and Magnus's sizes, he walked over and told Magnus to try on his as he did the same. Alec's fit him nicely, since he knew what size he wore. Magnus's, however, was a little too wide for him. One of the sleeves was almost going down his shoulder. The rest of it just hung around him. He still managed to look great in it, Alec noted.

Magnus just walked over to the table and got a jacket that fit him and turned back to Alec. "Do you think we'll get any snow before we get there?" he asked, smiling. He hadn't seemed as cold as Alec had felt outside, but Alec had always been more sensitive to the cold than anyone else he knew.

"Maybe we will." Alec shrugged. He started laughing when Magnus asked how he looked while striking some ridiculous pose. "You look great." He went over to the miscellaneous table and grabbed things for his siblings. Magnus grabbed a container of hair gel. He explained that it was because his hair was too long to not get in the way when it was down, but it was too short to pull up well.

"Let's go blue-eyes. Your siblings are probably worried about you," called behind as he walked out of the store. Alec caught up and walked beside him on the way back. Neither of them mentioned Magnus's worry from the night before. Instead, they talked about normal things. Like how the air was cold but the wind wasn't too bad yet, or what they thought Idris would look like, or good techniques for killing zombies.

When they got back to the orphanage, Izzy was waiting in the doorway. She was by Alec quickly, asking what he had gotten her. Max was inside, reading a comic Alec had gotten on his last trip to a store. Max sometimes reminded him of himself when he was young; the one almost always reading, and not drawing much attention to himself. The young boy smiled when Alec brought a Rubix cube out of the bundle of clothes in his arms. "Let's see if you can finish it," he said as he had it to Max. He gave Izzy small container of eye shadow he thought she might like. He assumed she did, by the way she smiled. He hadn't known what to get Jace, before he found a small stuffed duck and decided.

Alec handed his two younger siblings their jackets before he walked to Jace's room. He set the jacket down on the small bedside table in the room. Then he handed the duck to his sick brother. "I saw it and thought of you."

"How thoughtful," Jace said sarcastically. He hated ducks, and Alec knew that, but he liked to joke around about it sometimes. "I'll remember next time to get you a plush spider."

"There aren't any plush spiders." Alec was glad there weren't. It wouldn't be a great morning for him if he had woken up thinking that there was a spider in his bed.

"I'll find one," Jace mumbled as he started to fall asleep again. Alec decided to try and relax for a while in his room before dinner. He had already gone to the store for clothes, the already had enough food, they didn't need any other supplies. They also couldn't travel again until Jace was feeling better.

Alec lied down on his bed. Outside of his door, he heard Magnus and Izzy talking about something. He couldn't fully hear everything that they said. Maybe they were talking about fashion or something again. They both seemed to like talking about that. Alec sat up to try and hear them better. He knew eavesdropping was wrong, but he was bored and slightly curious. Then Alec heard Izzy say his name. Maybe Alec was hearing things. Why would they be talking about him?

He didn't have time to think more than that because Magnus walked in. "Hello!" He got past the door and towards the bed. He sat beside Alec, there already being room for him.

"You didn't knock," Alec said instead of a greeting. Magnus said that since he knew Alec wasn't sleeping in the middle of the day, he had walked in. "What if I had been changing?" Alec asked.

Magnus's cat-like eyes shone with amusement as he answered. "Well that would have been quite the sight." Alec blushed and Magnus smirked. "But there's no reason you would have been. So I didn't have to worry too much."

Alec didn't say anything at first. Not until most of his blush was gone. Magnus started talking again first. "How's Blondie?"

"He's fine." Alec told Magnus about his odd hatred towards ducks. Magnus laughed along with him and they were both still smiling afterwords. Magnus asked Alec what he was afraid of. "Spiders."

"Arachnophobia? Why?" Alec explained that when he was younger there had been a big spider that he had found. It had bitten him, which had felt awful, and the poison in its bite made him feel awful for a while. It also left him with a fear of the small arachnids.

Magnus answered lack of glitter when asked the same question. They talked for a while longer. They briefly touched on the topic of their past lives. All Magnus said about his though was that he had no parents and he had friends named Camille and Ragnor that he hoped were okay.

Before they knew it, the sun had gotten close to setting. Alec was going to say something about it, but then he locked eyes with Magnus. The setting sun made the light dance strangely on him. It made him look different, but still beautiful. Alec felt himself leaning forward, and he noticed Magnus do the same. Right before they touched though, Izzy walked in.

"It's about time to start dinner." Alec had jumped back from Magnus, his cheeks blazing. Izzy noticed and smiled. "I'm not interrupting something, am I?" Alec shook his head.

"No not at all." What had just been about to happen? What had Izzy just interrupted? Alec kept his thoughts to himself as he sat on his bed.

"Okay. Come on, before dinner gets too cold."

* * *

**Almost Malec kiss!**

**I hope this chapter turned out well like the others. I'm pretty tired right now and just finished, so I hope it's not too dull or repetitive.**

**As always, please leave a review to tell what you think. They really help me out!**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello Readers!**

**Another chapter of this here story has arrived!**

**I have plans for these next couple of chapters...**

**I don't own any characters. Just the plot.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alec tried not too think too much about what had almost happened between him and Magnus over the next week. The group hadn't gotten much closer to Idris. Their car had run out of gas and they hadn't been able to find any more near where they had broken down. Since they no longer had a car, they had to start travelling on foot again.

During that week, they had stopped at a lot of different stores. At some they got more ammo and better weapons. At others they had gotten more warm clothes. The sky had started to get darker, and Alec was afraid it might start to snow soon. In all of the stores they had searched, there had been one thing missing that they needed. Food.

Every store that they looked through had already been searched. Any food left over was too out of date for them to eat without getting sick. Luckily they had some food left in their bags, but it wasn't going to last for much longer. Soon they would have to start eating less food per day. And even then, it would still run out.

Alec tried not too lose hope that the next store may have the food they needed; but the hope lessened with each store that had no food. The boys had started searching more than one new store every day. But they still had no luck. The area had been run through.

There was a city close by that they could get to, search a store, and get back before sundown. They had talked about trying to get supplies there, but the city was full of walkers. Alec had to wonder if it might be worth it though. If the city was full of infected, that might mean that others had passed by it for safety. Was there some way they could get in without getting caught?

They would have to think quickly, Alec had decided. He didn't want their supplies to be less than it was. He supposed that the survivors could try to get to another safe house, but he imagined that those places would have to be far away from places that had stores.

At night, he thought of plans that could help them out. Sometimes Magnus came in and planned with him. Sometimes he didn't. On some of the nights when the older boy came in, Alec felt his thoughts drift away from the plans and onto him. He always managed to snap his attention back, though.

After their eighth empty store, Alec knew that they would have to choose between trying the zombie city, or trying to go on without new supplies. Over dinner that night they discussed which one would be better to try.

Eventually it was decided that the guys would have to try the city. They would try to avoid attracting any infected while they were there. A supermarket was close enough to the building they were in that they could get in and out before the walkers knew that they were there -if they were careful. And when Alec saw another group of infected -no less than twenty- walk on the street, he hoped they were.

* * *

The three boys managed to get inside the city without getting caught. Alec was glad for that; but he hoped that they could get out undetected as well. The store they were searching had plenty of food to last them a while, and there was plenty of water to have. an old backpack was leaned against a corner in the back of the store. Alec searched through it, knowing that no one could still be camping there. The bag didn't have much in it, though it did contain ammo. There was also a picture of a couple and a little girl. Alec put the picture back in, not wanting to think too much about families being split up.

After having gotten all of the things they could, the three decided to head back to their camp. The street in front of the door was crowded by infected. they headed to a side door instead and walked through the alleys, avoiding running into infected. As they were walking though, Jace tripped over a wire. No one had time to react before a net filled with empty tin cans fell onto the ground.

"Must have been a sound trap," Alec said as Jace swore and Magnus looked around the paths they could take.

"Yeah. But the zombs will be attracted to the noise, so we've got to run," Magnus stated. Sure enough, there was groaning moving towards them from every direction. They chose the one that went in the direction of their base and ran.

It wasn't too long before they were surrounded. The three pushed on, not looking back, and killing anything that got in front of them. There were way too many for them to all fight off, though. Alec had to keep getting his arm out of their grasp; by both yanking his arms back, and cutting off theirs.

Alec was very glad when he saw their camp coming up. Izzy was standing near a window. Watching for them, Alec guessed. He tried to signal for her to get Max and get out, but he assumed that the group of infected following them got that across. She and Max were out quickly, and the five of them started running away. They had no destination in mind; not until Alec saw another car. The driver's door was open, and it had the keys in.

Alec ran forward and tried the keys. The engine started, but Alec could see why it had been left at the station. The meter said that it was nearly out of gas. "It will have to do," Alec mumbled to himself as he motioned the others over. He was about to get in when he heard someone call his name.

He looked towards the rest of the group. Izzy was in the middle of cutting the arm off of a white-haired walker that was holding her. Magnus and Jace were beheading other walkers. They seemed like they could handle it, but Alec was heading towards them anyway. "Alec!" He heard the cry again. None of the people Alec could see had moved their mouths. Besides, the voice was too high-pitched to be any of theirs.

"Max!" Alec called out when he had finally gotten close enough to see him. An infected had Max caught in his arms. The nine-year-old was struggling to get free, but wasn't succeeding. Alec knew he had to help before anything too bad -and permanent- happened to him. He ran forward and stabbed the walker in the throat. As it was choking on blood, the walker released Max. Alec grabbed the child up and ran forward, getting through fast enough that he didn't have to fight them.

Alec dropped Max in the car before gathering up the others. None of them seemed to be too badly hurt. The car was turned and sped down the street. Alec really hoped that they wouldn't have to keep using cars to escape hordes. There weren't really cars everywhere. It just seemed luck had been on their side so far.

And everyone knows luck doesn't last very long.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! **

**Like I said, I already have plans, so this story may be having some quick updates. (I don't know yet though...)**

**Please review and let me know how this chapter was. They helps me know if you guys like it, make me feel great for the rest of the day, and help my headache go away.**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello Readers!**

**I am updating this really late (or early, technically) where I am. It's... 1:30 AM.**

**Characters (c) Not Me ((Cassandra Clare)) /\ States (c) Also Not Me /\ Plot (c) Me!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alec walked down the hall in the dark. He didn't know why he was there, walking through the halls at night to talk. He just wanted to talk to someone. He stopped outside of the correct door and knocked quietly enough that he didn't disturb the others. He hoped the door was opened soon, hotel hallways at night always freaked him out. Add in zombies, and he was in a horror game.

"Who is it?" a voice mumbled through the door. Alec told the voice that it was him. There was a chance they already knew that, seeing as there is a peep hole on every door. "Come in." Alec walked into Magnus's room as he heard the door close behind him. "What brings you to my room at this hour?" Magnus asked as he sat down on his bed. He was holding something, but Alec couldn't fully tell what it was. It looked familiar though.

"I wanted to talk to someone," Alec answered. He still couldn't tell what Magnus was holding, so he decided to just ask what it was. The response to that question was that he would be told if he promised not to laugh. He promised. Then Magnus lit a candle he had found somewhere in the hotel to light up the room. When he, Jace, and Alec had gone to the store earlier that day, they had found a couple packs of matches. One had just been used.

Alec smiled when the light showed him the object in Magnus's arms. He wasn't going to laugh though. It was a small, stuffed tabby cat. Magnus was holding it like it was a real kitten. He held out the small plush so that Alec could see it better. It had a few places that had obviously been holes that someone had tried to sew shut again. There were also a couple of spots where the dirt couldn't be washed out of it.

"His name is Chairman Meow." Alec handed the cat back to its owner. Magnus had a small smile as he looked down at it. "He was given to me by my mom before she passed away. I've always kept him with me. A comfort thing, I suppose," Magnus explained. He just hugged the stuffed animal tighter for a moment before setting it down on his pillow. "You said you wanted to talk?"

Alec nodded. He had wanted to come talk to Magnus again. The older boy hadn't come into his room earlier, so he decided to see if they could talk. He hadn't planned what he wanted to talk about though. So he ended up just saying, "So you've had him a long time then?" Alec had used the pronoun Magnus had been, not wanting to get corrected.

"Yeah. I've had him for a long time. He was sort of like my security blanket growing up." Magnus looked down at the cat like it might come to life suddenly. It didn't. "Did you have something like that?"

Alec thought. He had never really had a specific "security blanket". Growing up, he learned that if you ever feel too badly, books are your friends. The worlds in the books helped comfort him. Sometimes he talked to his sister if the books didn't help him. He tried explaining it to Magnus, feeling like he couldn't find the right words to. Magnus nodded though, like he understood.

Magnus then asked what Alec thought of the day. "I can't say it was my favorite day ever. It was too close. I am glad that we got supplies and all of us got out unbitten." They luckily had avoided getting bitten, though Izzy complained about having broken a nail and Max had gotten his arm cut.

The rest of the time Alec spent in Magnus's room, they talked about plans for what they would do next. They talked about some of their favorite things. The topic of birthdays had come up and Alec had said that his was within the next couple of days. The group had a calender that they marked everyday, but Alec hadn't seen it recently enough to know how close his birthday was. When Magnus commented about a present, Alec had laughed and told him -very sarcastically-about how he had always wanted a birthday party in the zombie apocalypse. Magnus responded by saying how much fun the party would be and want zombies were cool enough to attend.

Alec was laughing along with Magnus and when he looked, the candle was quite a bit shorter than when it had first been lit. "I probably should go to bed before I get woken up again for my watch," Alec said as he moved to leave. Magnus grabbed his arm and pulled him back before he had fully stood up though. "Magnus, what are you-" Alec broke off when he saw how close his and Magnus's faces were. Their noses were almost touching and Alec could feel whenever Magnus breathed out.

Alec never finished that question. Magnus was leaning towards Alec and Alec noticed that he was doing the same. What did he do? He had never kissed someone before! He was clueless when it came to things like that. He decided to just go with it and closed his eyes when they were about to touch. The kiss was soft and closed-mouthed. Alec could still tell that Magnus had a lot more experience than he did though.

"You're right, it's getting late," Magnus said after they pulled apart. Alec felt the blush that was undoubtedly coloring his cheeks. Alec nodded and walked out of the room. As soon as the door was closed behind him, he started smiling like an idiot. He walked back down the hall towards where his room was. The darkness didn't seem as threatening on the walk back.

The grin stayed plastered on his face and seemed like it wasn't going to leave any time soon. At least it had until he passed by a room and heard crying coming from inside. Knowing it was one of his siblings, Alec knocked before walking in, asking what was wrong. Inside the room he saw Max sitting on his bed crying. He was holding the arm that he had cut earlier. Alec asked Max if it was okay. He assumed that the kid had hit it on something and made his arm start hurting again.

Max shook his head and stuttered out between sobs, "I-it's no-ot a c-cut." Alec just stared at Max, an idea coming into his mind that he didn't like. Max had told them he had gotten cut earlier, then Jace had helped clean it and wrap it in gauze. Alec thought that maybe the nine-year-old had said it wasn't _the_ cut and not _a_ cut. When he asked if he had heard wrong, Max shook his head and repeated what he had said.

"What do you mean it's not a cut Max? What else would it be?"

"It's a b-bite."

* * *

**Malec kiss! Yay!**

**Ooh... A bite you say, little Lightwood? (Dun dun dun! Again!)**

**Not much else to say... So please leave a review if you thought it was good/great/horrible/oatmeal/okay/fluffy! Anything!**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello Readers!**

**This chapter was... fun to write. Yeah... fun.**

**Cassie owns them... I own plot... We know, we know**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alec sat in silence as his younger brother attempted to talk to Alec. He could barely get any words out through his sobs though. Alec couldn't understand most of what he said, but when he heard him say "I'm sorry", Alec wrapped him up into his arms. He held the nine-year-old close to himself as the smaller body continued shaking and crying. Alec didn't know what to say to comfort the boy, so he just rocked him back and forth slightly. He doesn't know how long they sat there until Max's sobs got quieter and his breathing evened out. Alec laid him down on to his bed and tucked the covers around him before going back to his own room.

Alec debated whether or not going back into Magnus's room. He decided against it. He would rather be alone and besides, Magnus was probably already tired. It would be best not to keep him up and upset him. Everyone else could find out in the morning. As Alec sat alone thinking to himself, he wondered why he wasn't feeling too sad. He wasn't really. Shouldn't he feel horrible? Why didn't he feel bad when his brother had just told him that he was infected?

Alec didn't feel anything though. No feelings at all. It seemed as if his entire heart had just numbed. He didn't know how to feel about that thought. Except, of course, he did not feel at all. He just stared at the dark ceiling in front of him. Sleep wouldn't come for him, and he had a feeling it wouldn't come for a while. Since he didn't think he had to worry about emotions crowding his mind as he thought, he thought about how the next few days would be.

Based on what Alec could remember about turning, Max would start to feel sick hours after getting bitten. He would get worse over the next day or so. Eventually, he would get too sick to walk. After that, too sick to stay awake. He would turn when he was asleep. He would close his eyes as a human and wake up as something else. They couldn't let Max turn. But that meant that someone would have to kill him before that happened. Alec finally felt sleep coming and let it take him. It could be decided who would do it in the morning.

When Alec was woken up, he knew he couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. He left his room and went straight for Max's. The child was still asleep; but he was sweating and rolling around a lot. He couldn't seem to get comfortable for more than a second.

Alec felt a strong wave of anger hit him at the sight of his weak brother. He walked outside and sat watch, letting angry thoughts plague his mind. If someone had been protecting Max like they were all supposed to... If Alec hadn't run ahead like that... Someone should have been watching him! He couldn't possibly fight off a walker on his own. They all knew that. So why had he been alone?

For the rest of his shift, Alec felt the anger boiling up before dimming down a bit, just to pop up again. Alec couldn't say he was too fond of the anger. It caused him to think a lot of things he never would usually. A lot of them made him feel guilty as well, even though no one could hear them. They also made him feel better though, so he continued to let his anger come. At least until he had to wake the rest of their group up.

Like Alec had expected, Max said he wasn't feeling good in the morning. Alec let him stay in bed to rest while he went to try and explain the situation to the other teenagers without them all either trying to crowd Max or freaking out to much and upsetting Max further. It did not go well, but he did manage to get across his message. Do not make Max panic.

Everyone tried to act normal that day, including Max. He had come out of his room after breakfast. He said he felt good enough to walk around the hotel, but the group wasn't moving. Not for a while. That night though, there wasn't the usual bickering about who got what watch. Everyone went to their rooms silently. Alec watched over Max again, watching as his breathing slowed and evened out. Alec would give anything he could to know that that chest would still be moving like that in a week. He would do anything if Max could just tell him that he had gotten sick from the dust and that he had been wrong about the cut being a bite. Oh what Alec would do to keep his baby brother around.

He went back to his room as quietly as he could, not wanting the others knowing he was still awake. He didn't expect to find that his room already had someone in it. Alec sat down next to them and leaned into them. They wrapped their arm around Alec and he tried to relax into the embrace. He couldn't though. His mind was still trying to fully wrap around the idea that Max wasn't going to be there for much longer and there wasn't anything he could give to change that. It didn't seem to want to accept that though.

"Aren't you going to ask me if I want to talk about it or something?" Alec asked after a while of them sitting in silence. He thought that was usually what people asked first when something happened and they tried to comfort someone.

"It depends on whether or not you want to talk," Magnus answered. Alec shook his head. There was something that they had to talk about that couldn't be avoided though. Alec mentioned that and started talking when Magnus cut him off. "I'll do it." Alec looked at the boy like he was crazy.

"Why would you do it?" was the only question Alec could think of for the time being. He didn't understand why Magnus would want to do it. There seemed to be no reason why someone they had only known for a few weeks would have to do it.

"Because," Magnus started. "He's your brother. You shouldn't have to do that. None of should. No one should ever have to do that to a family member. I'm not as close to him as you guys are. There's a chance that if any of you did it -which I highly doubt you would let one of your siblings do it- you might not be able to go through with it. There's not that chance with me. I'll do it." Alec listened silently through Magnus's explanation. He didn't want to do it, but it felt like it would be best if he did. But now he heard Magnus's side and he was starting to think that he may be right.

It didn't mean that he didn't try to argue back. As soon as he did though, Magnus cut him off again. "Tell me. Would you honestly be able to look at Max and be able to shoot him? Would you?"

Alec thought for a minute. Would he? He didn't know. Could he actually do that? Eventually he shook his head. His mind would still tell him it was Max, even if he had already turned. Alec wasn't fully sure he would be able to pull that trigger. Magnus turned and pulled Alec to his chest. Alec wrapped his own arms around Magnus's waist, trying to hide himself away from the reality unfolding around him.

The next day Max couldn't stand. Alec tried to get him to eat breakfast, managing to only get a little in before Max started saying he felt nauseous. Alec left him to eat his own food. When he was done, he glanced at Magnus before going back to Max. He hoped that glance had said it though. Max wasn't going to be able to survive through the day.

Alec felt like crying when he watched Max cough and sweat. The kid was so sick. He wanted to say or do something that would make everything better. But he knew he couldn't, so instead he tried to keep Max comfortable. The urge to break down was strong, but Alec fought against it. He would not -could not- break down in front of Max.

Max started having trouble staying awake. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. Magnus came into the room, his face not showing any emotions. Alec knelt down beside Max. "You were the best baby brother anyone could ever ask for. I'm glad you're mine." His voice had cracked on the last word, but he continued on. His family had an old tradition that had always been kept. Alec stared at the paling face on the bed. "Ave atque vale, Max," he whispered.

"Hail and farewell," he heard Magnus translate behind him. He watched as his brother was taken away in Magnus's arms. His other siblings were in their rooms, he knew. He could hear Izzy crying in hers. When he tried the handle, he found it locked. Alec just sat in his room and sat on his bed. He wasn't fully awake, but he was't asleep. He was at a sort of halfway point. The numb feeling had come back. It stayed until Alec heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"So Max is gone," Alec mumbled to himself. The feeling that he was going to break down came back. Though this time he didn't try to stop himself. He started crying. He hadn't cried in years, and he never cried as hard as he was. He held a pillow to his face and felt as it was being soaked through with tears. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. He hadn't noticed his door opening. Alec dropped his pillow to the side burying his face in Magnus's shoulder. He was crying so much that it was hard for him to get any air into his lungs.

Alec felt like he had failed. He was the oldest sibling, he was supposed to look out for the younger ones. His name even meant protector! Some protector he was; not being able to even keep his baby brother safe. "Don't do that," Magnus murmured into the top of Alec's head. "Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault." Alec still felt that it was his fault though. So he just cried.

* * *

**Wasn't that a happy chapter? The next ones will be happy too! **

**I finally got to DD's ****_favorite _****part. This is also one of my longer chapters, so that makes me feel great.**

**As always, please leave a review telling me how this chapter was.**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello Readers!**

**I am reeeeeaaaaally sorry about not updating this story for over a month.** **I've had my mind on other things and then I was too upset to write anything that contained any sadness in it (especially the death) and then I got addicted to Homestuck etc...**

**But I finally got myself to write this and to try and make it up to you guys it is mostly Malec scenes. **

**I do not own any of the characters, those all belong to the wonderful Cassandra Clare. I do, however, own the plot and writing.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The remaining survivors had a small funeral for Max before they left and were on the road again. They hated to leave Max's grave, but they had to move on and keep themselves safe by getting to Idris as quickly as they could. Even though running from infected wasn't the safest way to live, Alec was glad for the distraction. It kept his mind focused on something other than the fact that his little brother was dead. He had accepted the fact as soon as it had come, not crying much after the first day. That's all the statement was. A fact.

Alec tended to keep all of his emotions bottled up, and he knew that he would regret it later. He decided that he would deal with it then and grieve when he could do so without worrying about another person getting bitten. The group was getting close to the Idaho border, and Alec tried to keep the thought of Idris being close in the front of his mind. They were so close now. Once they got there he wouldn't have to worry about losing someone else.

Even though Alec always claimed to be fine, Magnus came to him every night. They would stay up until one of them had to go on shift and talk about memories from before the infection started. Alec talked about training with Hodge. His studying. His staying late reading and getting scolded for it before doing it again the next day. He recited some of his favorite stories and poems he had read over the years. Magnus always listened.

Magnus told stories about being at the orphanage. He didn't describe the place much, though he did mention his friends that he hung out with. He retold memories of getting Chairman Meow and hanging out with his friends Catarina and Ragnor, and mentioned Camille as being an ex-girlfriend of his.

Alec liked listening to Magnus's stories. They were rarely told, but when they were they helped Alec imagine Magnus in his younger years. Magnus became a bit more closed-off when it came to his past, so the fact that he trusted Alec enough to tell him what he did made Alec grateful.

They didn't run into too many walking dead on their trip into the next state. There seemed to be less of them around there. Did that mean that they were being cleared out, or that they were all crowded somewhere else? If it were the latter, Alec didn't want to get stuck in wherever that somewhere else was. He tried to keep the group moving, not stopping in a place for more than one day. They were making quicker progress, but they were getting more worn out. When Alec saw that it wouldn't be very safe to try and continue on the next day, he had the group find the place that looked safest so that they could rest.

That night he took first watch, and when he came back to his room, Magnus was sitting on his bed with Chairman in his lap. He looked up when Alec walked in and smiled. "Hello Darling. We don't have anything trying to sneak up on us, do we?"

Alec just shook his head in reply and sat down next to the taller boy. He started taking off his shoes, frowning at how thin the soles were. Most of their clothes were in horrible shape. Their shirts were torn, their pants were scraped, and their shoes were threatening to go through if they were walked in any more. Not to mention that all of their clothes were very dirty. But they were all that the group had, so they would have to do.

After the shoes were on the floor, Alec pulled his feet up onto the bed and sat on them, leaning into Magnus as he did. He felt an arm wrap around his neck and settle on his shoulder. The two just sat in silence for a while, Magnus messing with the stuffed cat in his lap and Alec watching the flame melt away one of the few candles that they had left.

They shifted so that instead of sitting on the edge of the bed they were both lying down side-by-side and staring at the ceiling. "Do you ever miss the stars?" Magnus asked randomly.

"What do you mean? I see the stars nearly every night." When on watch, Alec would sometimes let his eyes drift off of his watch and up into the night sky. He was very confused as to why Magnus would miss them when they were still there.

"No. I mean, being able to just go out and looked at them. Not having to worry about being attacked when you go out and stare up at the lights," Magnus explained.

"Didn't you live in Brooklyn?" Alec asked. There weren't many stars in New York, there were too many unnatural lights to see the nature's lights in the sky.

"Before that. I would look at them. And sometimes you could see them from my apartment. I would go up on my roof and look for them. Watching as more kept popping up." Magnus was still looking up at the ceiling, but Alec had a feeling that that wasn't what he was seeing.

"I never saw them much before. Too many people and lights to be able to." Alec heard Magnus mumbled about how that was too bad before there was silence again. After a while a pair of green eyes were staring at Alec. "What?" he asked, suddenly self-conscious under the gaze.

"Are you okay?" The question wasn't very loud - nearly a whisper - and Alec could see that Magnus was worrying about him.

"As much as I can be," Alec answered honestly. He felt arms circle around him and pull him into a hug. He tucked his head onto Magnus's shoulder, breathing in his scent. It wasn't a clean smell, considering that they hadn't had much time to keep themselves clean, but it wasn't a terribly awful smell either. He smell like dirt and dust and sweat, but also like sandalwood that seemed to have permanently become part of his smell.

Alec sighed into the hug, wrapping his arms around Magnus as well. He liked Magnus being there. His entire life he had spent taking care of his siblings. Now he had someone to take care of him when he really needed it. He wished that it hadn't taken the apocalypse for them to meet though. He tried to imagine it, them meeting at some party or club that his siblings had dragged him to.

His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of lips pressing to his head. "I'm going to have to go to my watch soon," Magnus mumbled onto his head. Alec turned his neck and caught the older boy's lips with his own. The kiss only lasted for a moment, but it left Alec with a red flush covering his cheeks. He murmured a goodbye before he felt Magnus get up and heard the door close behind him. His eyelids started getting heavy. And soon enough he was asleep.

* * *

**Hello again!**

**I will try and update more often than once a month now. Also, since they are getting into Idaho and they are going to Oregon (the states are next to each other) this story probably won't be much longer. **

**As always, please leave a review telling me what you think! I'm not going to hold chapters hostage for more reviews, but they do give me inspiration and just make me feel great.**

**Carpe Diem,**

**IzzieGS**


End file.
